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My Current Class |
Life in Okazaki and |
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My Background |
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Places to Go |
Comments and Today's Tips |
Well... people usually call me Lili since Suryaningsih is
sometimes difficult to pronounce for foreigner. Suryaningsih is my Indonesian
name and yesE It’s my only name I don’t have family name in Indonesian. I’ve been asked for many times and had
trouble here and there e.g. when filling up applications for not having a family
name. For an Indonesian it is not unusual not to have a family name.
I came from Bandar Lampung, a small town in Sumatra Island, Indonesia . However, I have spent quite a lot of my time in overseas countries. I went to Singapore when I was 12 to do my secondary education and moved to Australia for my high school and university studies. Living away from your family was never been easy. I had ups and downs... that's life I guess. I learnt how share, live with others and be strong. I had a unique youth time and had never regretted anything that I have been through.
I love traveling and get to know people from
all over the world.
Before I came to Japan I have completed my Bachelor degree with honors in Information system from the University of New South Wales, Sydney and am currently working on my Master of business system degree with Monash University, Melbourne through distance learning. I get sick and tired of attending lectures so I’ve decided why not learn Japanese insteadEo:p>
I am currently with the ACCP-Course, the most intensive
available course in Yamasa. It’s only available for beginner to
pre-intermediate though. Previously, I have learnt Japanese for half a year in
Beijing but after all coming to Japan is the best possible choice if you are
really thinking seriously about learning the language.
Everyday I have to attend 6 hours of classes except on Friday for 4 hours. It is kind of tough but I really am glad that I choose this course because I have really nice teachers and friends. I like them a lot. We had a lot of fun time during and even outside the classroom. We are a bunch of party mania group I guess huhh...hhuhhEand normally I will be the “JunbiE girl in the class. Keeping all the reusable plates, cups, utensils, etc for the party. But it isn’t so badEnbsp;
Right now in my class there are 7 students, 3 from China, 2 from Hong Kong, 1 from Taiwan and I am the only Indonesian. Previously we also had classmates from Singapore, France and Denmark.
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Meet Yokozawa sensei with his famous pants and pose. Wonder Why? |
Tori sensei (middle) with two strangest and craziest girls in my class. |
One Happy Family... hehheheEJ Sakai sensei (middle) is our teacher in charge. |
Tsuruda sensei “Cake senseiEShe loves to make cakes. |
Our Travel sensei |
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During Picnic in Gamagoori “MariaEin actionEgiving the teachers test is always fun!! |
Teachers dancingEStudents singingE(Dancing queen) Fair enough? |
Playing “Guessing gamesEafter having superb Taiwanese food. Guess who is the unlucky one? |
“Japanese Food Cooking ClassEat my Villa apartment. "Itadakimasu"...HmmmEoishiiE/p> |
Fun...fun... but of course we still do a lot of work. Every day we have small test and big test every 2 weeks hhmm... krkrkrrr....
Want to find out more about us? Visit our Class Homepage at:
http://www.geocities.co.jp/CollegeLife-Library/6382 (sorry in Japanese only)
Life in Japan is always been fun and interesting. I came to Japan approximately 4 ½ months ago. Exactly during spring season, I was really lucky to be able to see the cherry blossom (Sakura) and saw a lot of the Japanese festivals even participate in one of them.
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Sakura Festival in OkazakiEI met few really nice Japanese people there and one lady even gave me a flower. The Sakura (behind) was sooooooE. prettyE |
Spring is over and summer is coming. Be prepared to get roasted alive. But summer offers one of the worlds greatest Fireworks!! |
GirlsEturn to carry the Yamasa omikoshi. We were all wearing the Happy Coat. Wasyoi!!! |
Obon is the last summer holiday that you’ll get. Holidays in Japan are quite rare I guess. Again here I met nice Japanese people who gave me a traditional Japanese water balloon Mizuhusen. The way you play it just like yo-yo. |
A month ago, I did a home visit and stay with a Japanese family for the weekend. It was arranged by Yamasa and the Hippo Family Club an organization made up from a group of volunteers with the aim of cultural exchanges. I had a really great time with the family, we had a nice Thai lunch and went to a lot of places; park, aquarium, temple, seaside even boating.
Ever wonder what it's like to teach the Japanese how to sing your country song? Well... prior to going to the home visit family house, we first gathered at a hall where we (Yamasa students) introduced ourselves to the host family and presented to them each of our own country games or other activities. On that occasion I taught them how to sing a short Indonesian children's song (Satu-satu). It's about loving your parents, brothers and sisters.
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Me singing satu-satu with the Hippo Club members |
Who dares win? Megumi chan... was trying to catch small prawn at the aquarium. Isn't she cute? |
Seaside... playing with the water... wet...wet... me, Megumi chan and host mum, host dad was taking photo. |
After doing a home visit I thought that it is a good idea to go to a home stay...
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The host family grandmother taught me how to do Japanese flower arrangement "Ikebana". |
The elegance of the tea ceremony is always be one of my favorite. |
Who would have believe that I can play "Koto" Japanese traditional musical instrument. (Only Sakura-sakura song :P) |
Kimono? How do I look? |
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Another cultural exchange activity during my stay was going to the primary school. Meeting up with the Japanese children was an exciting experience. I was really nervous on that day but it turned out well. All of the children were really warm and sweet there was even one girl hold my hand when I arrived and I guess that there were some that were as nervous as I am. They made "onigiri" rice balls for us and taught us Japanese games such as sumo, takeuma, otedama, and they patiently listened to our "slow" Japanese speech. In return after the speech we had quizzes, prizes and taught them how to dance the hokey pokey.
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I also have done one cooking class. Basically making Indonesian Mie Goreng (Fried Noodles) and Pastel Goreng (snack) at the Aoi Hall with few Japanese housewives. Only one of them ever had Indonesian food before. I was so relieved that they like the food and even like the Indonesian chili sauce J. Really interesting!!
Before I came to Japan, I have never imagine myself doing Karate... But then... 3 of my friends were so enthusiastic about doing Karate and sometimes chat about it so I give it a try and really like it. Although after the first class my legs ached for at least 3 days. I am of course still a beginner with white belt and a friend joked about it when I wash the belt. He said that "Hei, you should not wash your belt... it's suppose to turn black in time..." yeah.... so... you know why people run off when they see a black belt huhh...huhhh... Most of my senior (senpai) actually kids in primary and secondary school quite embarrassing that they can do a lot of cool stuffs and high kicks... It's really fun and now I am actually looking forward to each of the practice.
There are few nearby places that you can go...
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Famous places in Japan would include Castles. There is one castle which is quite close to Yamasa. If you want visit Okazaki castle you can bike to this place or catch train to the Higashi Okazaki station and a short-distance walk. This is actually the first place that I visited in Okazaki :). Okazaki park is one of the places for many events, picnics, festivals, fireworks. You can see Japanese having picnic near the river, barbeque (yakiniku), drinking beers, chatting... hmm... oishisou... See the white paper tied around the wire. It's a place where you can hang your wish.
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There is also Nagoya castle. It's is much... much bigger than the Okazaki castle, with a lot of souvenir shops too. I received this photograph from Japanese people that I met. It's a view of Nagoya castle during fall. I wish I could have the chance to see red leaves before I leave... |
Can you differentiate between Okazaki castle and Nagoya castle?
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I visited this place with a few friends during spring season. It is not a really big park but a nice place to have picnic. You can bring your own food (bento) and sit by the grass enjoy the breeze and colorful flowers. Aren't the flowers pretty? To get to the park catch train from Okazaki station to Anjo station and a bus that will take you directly to the Denpark entrance. It will cost you 600 yen to enter the park.
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If you are one that is into eating... Takayama is famous for its beef. I went there just last week. The aim of the trip was basically to eat beef and see the old Japanese town. We went on a bus tour early in the morning and back at night time.
It was quite a tiring trip, because we spent around 4 hours just to get to Takayama and then had all you can eat Takayama beef. It was juicy and delicious... I told my friend after this we will never even think about baiking (another all you can eat place near our place). There are a few all you can eat restaurants nearby... just don't do it too often hehhehe... :) or you can go to other nice places maybe 100 yen sushi, okonomiyaki restaurant, etc...
This was my first time to go on a bus tour in Japan. It was quite interesting how they gave you tea, fan, points card and also special deals for next bus trip. The guide talked all day long (we practically had a whole day listening lesson) and then watched an old Japanese movie and listened to Japanese jokes. But by the end of the day we were quite happy that now we actually can understand bits and pieces of Japanese.
There are a lot more variety of all you can eat trip and other trips as well. if you are interested, you can have an all you can eat peach trip, all you can eat grape trip, all you can eat yum cha, etc... or if you are one into hot spring (onsen), hiking, etc... they also have daily trip that will take you to those nice spots.
Hmmm.... Now that I think about it I guess I miss going out at night... nowadays I don't go out at night as often as I used to... which is rather sad... unfortunately... In Okazaki most students probably go for drinks at "Izakaya" Japanese pub and Karaoke, or dinner. You can go for Chinese, Western, Italian, Indian, or Japanese food of course.
Movies? Going to cinema is expensive in Japan, it will cost you around 1,600 yen just to see one movie. For those of you who have a video or dvd player, you can rent a video or dvd from local shops and will cost you around 300 yen per movie (of course you cannot expect all latest selection of movies).
Weekend breakfast? if you want a nice big breakfast on the weekend, you can go for McDonalds breakfast (not so exciting huhh) or maybe shops in Jusco they have selection of hot cakes, egg and sausage, etc... but no yum cha ok... unless you go to Yokohama... hhehh... :P
Staying at home? might not be a bad idea... take a break from your busy days just lazing around clean up your room, watch TV?
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There are lots and lots of places that you can go in Japan. Japanese transportation system is really convenient you can practically go anywhere you want easily except that it is also considerably expensive. Be prepared to pay around 1200 yen just to get you to Nagoya station by JR excluding any subway fare. For those of you who love to travel it might be worthwhile to join local tour instead of going by yourself because sometimes you can get special deals. In addition you have the chance to meet other Japanese people and talk to them (a good way to practice your speaking and listening skill). |
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Okazaki located in Central Japan, it is easy to go to Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto and Nara. If you want to go to far places and you are holding tourist visa you can buy a week-pass in your own country that would allow you to go anywhere in Japan. If you are holding a student visa the cheapest way would be to buy Seishun18 pass (only valid for normal train). Price of traveling by ShinKanSen and Air can be similar. |
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If you ever go by yourself and booked Youth Hostel accommodation you might want to check out whether they have shower rooms or only public bath which can be a terrifying or embarrassing experience for those who are not used to public bath. |
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There are lots of good foods around. But if you ever miss Indonesian foods or chili sauce I think it's better to bring your own stuff because I haven't seen any Indonesian restaurant around or any shops selling Indonesian ingredients in the local area. |
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Shopping time... girls... girls... Japan having big sale around end of July and August... clothes in Japan can be really expensive but they have interesting design. Closest shopping center would be Jusco and Seibu. For daily foods you can get it from Yamanaka supermarket, Seiyu or Jusco and they are having 100 yen day once a week (Tuesday for Seiyu/Jusco and Yamanaka on Wednesday). The cheapest place to get other things such as stationery, plates, cups, etc... would be at 100 yen shop (at Nakai Center or Seiyu). |
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Buying electrical goods? Digital camera, computer, etc... Most people would go to Osu I guess. It's in Nagoya city, you have to catch subway to Osu. They have a lot of stores selling those cool things. Sometimes, you can even bargain with them... sometimes it will work other time it doesn't... but just give it a try... you'll never know... :) |
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Buying books... need a break? Go to Maruzen in Sakae (Nagoya). I heard that it's the biggest bookshop but Takashimaya in Nagoya station also has quite a selection. Cheap place to buy Japanese books would be the second hand bookshop, if you just want to buy Japanese children books to help with your reading skill you can get it as cheaply as 100 yen per book. There is one close to Jusco. |
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For those who are crazy about Japanese sports e.g. sumo or baseball (Yakyu) you can watch those games at Nagoya Dorm. Sumo should be in July. |
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It's a good idea to get your self a bicycle, it will save you traveling time to go to nearby places or to the Okazaki station. |
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Finally... last but not least... If you have the chance to participate in anything just give it a try. It will be a worthwhile experience. With all the things to look forward to, who isn't going to be busy? |
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Kyoto |
Nara |
Five lakes, Fuji |
